


Icing on the Cake

by bigficenergy



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Birthday Fluff, M/M, that's it that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24659605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigficenergy/pseuds/bigficenergy
Summary: Patrick is looking forward to a lower-key birthday than his last one. David still sets out to make it special.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 20
Kudos: 242





	Icing on the Cake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [schittposting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/schittposting/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, Em! 🎉 🎂 🎁 😘

On the morning of his birthday, Patrick wakes up, rolls over, and kisses David’s forehead, whispering that he’s going for a run. David mumbles something that’s probably supposed to be “Happy birthday,” but it just comes out as, “hmmbirthdaaay.” Patrick smiles and kisses him one more time before getting up.

Last year, his birthday had been an emotional, momentous day, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything. This year, however, he’s looking forward to keeping things lower-key. David had suggested a trip of some kind, or a non-surprise party, but Patrick had insisted that it would be more than enough to just spend his first birthday as a married man with his husband in their new home, and maybe go out to dinner or something. David had looked skeptical, but ultimately agreed that it was Patrick’s decision to make.

He comes back from his run later, sweaty and satisfied, intending to go straight to the kitchen for some water. But when he steps into the house, there’s already a water bottle waiting for him on a coaster on the accent table by the door, cold and damp with condensation. He screws the top off and takes a long drink from it before going upstairs to thank David. He assumes if he’d gotten up to put the bottle out for him, he’s probably in the shower or getting dressed by now. But when he pokes his head into the bedroom, David is still in bed, pretty much exactly where he left him. It’s a little odd, but Patrick shrugs and heads to the bathroom to shower.

He tugs his t-shirt off on his way into the bathroom, and once his sight is no longer obscured by the damp cotton, his eyes land on a long, sand-colored box on the counter, tied up with brown, organza ribbon. Smiling, Patrick drops his shirt and sets down his water bottle, picking up the box. He’d used the bathroom before he left for his run, and this hadn’t been there then. He pulls the ribbon off and opens the gift to find a set of the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash from their store that he really likes. It’s an expensive set, even in the smaller bottles like these, so Patrick only grabs it for himself every now and then, despite David’s insistence on investing in high quality products that he enjoys. It seems today, David has made that investment for him. There’s a fourth item in the box, a roll-on vial of cologne from the same vendor, which Patrick has never seen. He remembers David mentioning vaguely that this vendor had some new items in the works they might want to consider stocking. This was certainly a nice way to do a test run.

He showers, taking his time and using the products, enjoying the fresh but subtle scents. He thinks that maybe he _should_ invest in the fancy stuff more often, but he does love that denying himself means David can gift them to him like this.

When he’s all freshened up, he goes back into the bedroom, where David still seemingly hasn’t stirred. Before he can go to the closet, he sees that an outfit has been laid out for him on the chair in the corner of the room. Most of it is his usual clothing, but the shirt is new. It’s a dark gray button-up, very much his style, but clearly a little nicer than what he’d normally pick out for himself. He finds that the sleeves have already been cuffed, presumably to the appropriate length according to David, which makes him chuckle.

Once he’s dressed, he climbs onto the bed, spooning David from behind and kissing his neck until David is smiling and he can see his dimples.

“You smell good,” David sighs happily, pressing back into Patrick.

“I know. Thank you for my presents.”

“Mhmmm.”

“You want breakfast?”

David peaks over his shoulder at him. “You think you’re gonna make breakfast on your birthday?”

“I don’t mind. You coming?”

“In a minute.”

“Okay.” He gives David one more kiss behind his ear before rolling off the bed. “Don’t fall back asleep.”

Patrick considers the options on his way back downstairs. Pancakes seem like the thing to do for a birthday breakfast. He’s pretty sure they still have mix.

He turns the corner into the kitchen and… there are several covered dishes already laid out on the table. The spread is a complete surprise. He’d passed through the kitchen on his way out for his run too, and none of this had been here. Judging by the syrup and the whipped cream on the table, he figures he knows what’s under the dome in the center of the table, but he peaks under it anyway to find a stack of large pancakes. Under foil covering on some smaller plates he finds scrambled eggs with peppers and mushrooms, and strips of crispy bacon. There’s also a bowl of fruit salad, and to top off this display, a small vase containing flowers from the bushes in their own yard sits next to the pancakes.

Past the table, he sees two mugs set out on the counter next to the coffeemaker. He goes over and peeks into the coffeemaker, finding it filled and ready to go, so he turns it on. As it starts to brew, he feels arms wrap around his middle and he smiles.

“Happy birthday,” David says, chin resting on his shoulder. “The kettle is also full if you’d rather have tea.”

“Coffee’s good,” Patrick says, turning in David’s arms to face him. “Everything’s good. It’s perfect.”

He kisses David, sweet and unhurried, then wraps him up in a hug.

“I can’t believe you did all of this while I was out,” he says into David’s shoulder.

“Well,” David says, pulling back. “It was touch and go for a minute there.”

He holds up his hand so Patrick can see the spot at the base of his thumb that’s a slightly red. Patrick tuts and takes his hand in both of his to look at the little burn.

“But even though my hand is now horribly disfigured,” he says, unable to keep a straight face at his own exaggeration, “I would do it all again for you.”

“That’s because you are a _very_ generous person,” Patrick says, kissing him again, and again, and again. When he tries to turn and move David back toward the counter, David resists, hands going to Patrick’s shoulders to separate them.

“I know where this is going, and I’m going to need you to eat some of this breakfast I injured myself for first.”

“Of course,” Patrick says, giving David one more peck on the lips. “We have all day for other things.”

\---

After breakfast, David doesn’t put up much of a fight when Patrick insists he can clean up, mostly because he needs a shower. By the time David is dressed and styled, Patrick is long done in the kitchen, and is lounging on the couch, reading a book. David runs his hand along the back of the couch as he passes, allowing Patrick to catch hold of it.

“Where are you going?”

“Was gonna have another cup of coffee. Want one?”

“I want something else,” Patrick says, tugging on his hand until David comes around to the front of the couch. Patrick drops his book on the coffee table and pulls David down on top of him.

“See, the thing about coffee is that it wakes you up,” David says as Patrick wraps his arms and a leg around him. “This feels like the start of something that usually leaves me, um… tuckered out, we’ll say.”

“We’ll make sure to get you that coffee after, then,” Patrick says, sliding a hand up the back of David’s head so he can pull him down for a kiss.

David settles into the embrace and they kiss like this for a long time, deep and leisurely. Things do grow more heated, but there’s no urgency today. David’s hair gets mussed from Patrick’s hands, and Patrick’s shirt comes partly unbuttoned, but it stays on. Eventually, David’s phone vibrates in his pocket, and he pulls back.

“Is that another present for me?” Patrick asks with a lazy grin.

“It is not,” David says, pulling out his phone to read the text. “At least not in the way you’re implying. But we should probably enter the cool-down phase of this, because your next meal is on its way.”

“Next meal? I’m still stuffed from breakfast.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve arranged for light fare.”

“And how long do we have before…?”

“Not long enough for that,” David says, reluctantly stopping the hand Patrick is sliding up under his sweater. Patrick pouts as David climbs off of him entirely.

“None of that,” David says, straightening his sweater. “You wanted to have a casual birthday, but that doesn’t mean I can’t curate a few nice things for you. Now make yourself presentable. Stevie is coming over.”

\---

On top of agreeing to check in on the Apothecary and assist the new sales associates with opening and closing procedures for the day, Stevie comes by with lunch. It’s a light spread, as David had promised, and they take the cheese, crackers, fruit and nuts out to the back patio to eat. Stevie also has a gift for Patrick, from her last trip to New York.

“It’s made from a theater’s retired leg curtains,” Stevie explains, when he unwraps the black velour zipper bag with “Break a leg” embroidered on it in gold. “You can use it for whatever, but the front pocket is the exact size for a playbill, so consider it a promise to take you to a show when we can all go to New York together.

Patrick should have been prepared for this. The towels that Stevie had had made when he and David got engaged had revealed that she was secretly very sentimental, and an excellent gift-giver. This just further proved those facts, and he’s very moved by it.

“This is _very_ cool, thank you, Stevie.”

“My god,” David says to Stevie. “You could at least _try_ not to show me up quite so much.”

“Nobody’s showing anyone up,” Patrick says with a laugh. “I appreciate you both.”

Stevie still gives David a smug smile just to annoy him, and she gets an almond thrown at her for it.

\---

Once Stevie leaves to head back to the motel, David does move the birthday festivities to a second location, with the promise that things will still be low-key. He’d found that the little duplex at the edge of town was doing a Penny Marshall retrospective all week, and fittingly, the movie today is _A League of Their Own_. In the Venn diagram of Patrick and David’s movie tastes, a classic, beloved sports film starring a killer cast of women is something that very much ends up in the overlapping area.

Patrick was promised dinner after the movie, so he passes on the concessions, but David, despite their big breakfast and recent lunch, gets a large popcorn, insisting that he’s just spending more money to support the theater. Because it’s a weekday, they basically have the theater to themselves, so they sit a few rows from the back, squarely in the center. Not long into the film, David slides down in his seat a little, and when Patrick puts his arm around him, David rests his head on his shoulder.

\---

“So today’s been good?” David asks as they walk up to Twyla’s Cafe.

“It’s been great, David,” Patrick says, lacing their fingers together and squeezing his hand warmly. “I meant it when I said all I wanted was to be with you today. Everything else has been icing on the cake.”

David makes a face, like he’s trying to figure out if that’s actually a compliment.

“Like a _really_ good buttercream icing,” Patrick clarifies, and David seems more or less satisfied with that.

Patrick steps into the Cafe ahead of David and freezes in his tracks almost immediately.

There, in one of the booths, sit his parents, smiling brightly at him. They’re in the same booth they all sat in together last year, when he finally told them about David, and about himself. He’s stunned that David has managed to surprise him like this, two years in a row. He feels David’s hand resting gently on his lower back, which gets him to move again.

“This is a lot of ‘icing’,” Patrick whispers, delighted, as they make their way over to the booth.

“Wasn’t it you who told me my sweet tooth was insatiable?” David teases.

Hugs are exchanged, and the four of them settle into their booth. Twyla comes over with menus, and with a plate of mozzarella sticks.

“Oh, but we haven't ordered anything yet,” Marcy says.

“These are on the house,” Twyla says, winking at Patrick and David before leaving to help another table.

“Well that’s nice,” Marcy says. “I wonder why these though.”

“Yeah, of… all things,” Clint says with a chuckle, carefully unfolding the enormous menu so he doesn’t poke Marcy with it.

“Um, I thought you told them all about our first date,” David teases, turning to look at Patrick with his chin in his hand.

“Well, David, when I retell the story of our first date, I tend to be more focused on all the big feelings I was having for the first time,” Patrick says, nudging his knee with his own. “And the fact that you invited Stevie. On our date.”

“Oh but honey, you didn’t make it very clear it was a date,” Marcy says before David can.

Patrick laughs in surprise, and notices his dad taking advantage of the large menu to hide his expression.

“What, you agree?” Patrick asks him

“Well I can understand that it was a special circumstance, but it does sound like things could have been… misinterpreted,” Clint says carefully.

“Wow,” Patrick says. “Okay, maybe I could have been more direct, but you’re all gonna turn on me like this on my birthday?”

“You’re right, I’m very sorry,” David says, picking up a mozzarella stick and holding it up as if to toast with it. “To the birthday boy, who we should be nicer to today, even though I couldn’t have known for sure that it was a date.”

The Brewers laugh, including Patrick, despite himself, and they all join in on the appetizer. 

\---

After their meal, Marcy brings a bag out from under the table, revealing that she and Clint had baked and brought their own cake, complete with candles. Twyla brings them plates and a lighter and, much to David’s dismay, gets all the patrons to join in in singing “Happy Birthday” to Patrick. David may be embarrassed, but Patrick loves it, like he’s loved every part of the day. He makes sure David knows that, keeping the hand not busy eating homemade birthday cake (frosted with a really good buttercream) resting on his husband’s knee underneath the table.

At the end of the evening, they walk Patrick’s parents back to their car to say goodnight before heading to their own. Before David can reach for the driver’s side door, Patrick takes his hand and turns him, backing him gently up against the car.

“Thank you,” he says. “For tonight, for today, for all of it. For somehow both honoring my request for a quiet birthday _and_ going all out.”

“You’re welcome,” David says, wrapping his arms around him, over his shoulders, his keys jingling in his hand. “I did try not to go too overboard, but I’m not exactly the foremost expert in subtlety.”

“Definitely not,” Patrick laughs. “And I love that about you.”

Patrick kisses him there for as long as they can get away with, pulling back only when they hear they chatter of people walking along the sidewalk across the street. He keeps his hands on David’s waist for another moment, though, and David’s hands rest on his shoulders.

“Any final surprises I should be aware of?” Patrick asks.

“Well… I might have one more gift to give you once we get home,” David says with a mischievous smile.

“Oh?” Patrick asks, leaning back in a little.

“Mhm. Maybe even _multiple_ gifts, depending on what you’re up for. But I don’t know. Maybe that’s too much _excitement_ for a quiet, low-key birthday.”

“Well…” Patrick says, brushing his nose against David’s and tilting his head, but not kissing him just yet. “Why don’t we make sure everyone gets at least one gift, and then go from there.”

**Author's Note:**

> Now I want to write David's first birthday post-marriage too. Maybe for your next birthday, Em. Hope you enjoyed this! (And thank you to any and all other readers.❤️ )
> 
> [Stevie's gift to Patrick](https://scenerybags.com/collections/shop-all-bags/products/break-a-leg-bag) is a real thing and I thought it was neat.


End file.
